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Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 1: Understanding Paid Search ..................................................................... 4
Why is Paid Search a Good Idea? ............................................................................ 5
Terms You Need to Know ........................................................................................ 6
Chapter 2: Introduction to Google AdWords ............................................................ 7
What is Google AdWords? ....................................................................................... 8
Chapter 3: Getting Started with Google AdWords .................................................... 9
Your Campaign Settings ......................................................................................... 10

Payment Options for AdWords .............................................................................. 11

Generating Conversion Tracking Codes ................................................................. 11

Chapter 4: How Small Businesses Can Enrich Their Campaigns ............................. 14

Better Focus ........................................................................................................... 15

Research Your Keywords ....................................................................................... 15

Create Great Ad Copy ............................................................................................ 15

Optimize Your Landing Pages and Destination URL .............................................. 16

Optimizing Negative Keywords to Improve Conversion ....................................... 16

Determine Your Budget ......................................................................................... 16

Bidding Strategy ..................................................................................................... 16

Figuring Your CPC ................................................................................................... 17
Geo Targeting......................................................................................................... 17
Keep Track of Your Quality Score .......................................................................... 17
Make Use of Ad Extensions ................................................................................... 17
The Power of AdWords .......................................................................................... 17
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 18

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Introduction

Small businesses are always looking for a good way to get an advantage when
it comes to marketing and advertising. They do not have the big budgets of
larger companies, so they need to find alternate means of getting the word out
about their business and better ways of getting visitors to become actual
customers. One of the best ways to do that, in addition to having a great site
and employing excellent search engine optimization, is to utilize pay per click,
or PPC, techniques.

In the following pages, we'll take a deeper look at what PPC is and how to use
it to the best effect for your small business. It might seem daunting at first, but
it is actually quite easy to understand and master, as you will see.

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 Chapter 1:
Understanding Paid Search

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Paid searches, or PPC searches, are a method of advertising your business and
products to customers who might not find your business through natural and
organic searches online. This method of advertising is actually quite cost
effective, and it is a good way to get more visitors coming to your site to see
what you have to offer.

Why is Paid Search a Good Idea?

Paid search can be very helpful for many types of businesses, including small
businesses. Though you might think you don't have the reach of larger
companies, this method of advertising allows you to focus on finding the
perfect customers for your business rather than spending on scattershot, hit-
or-miss advertising.

Find Your Target

You can configure your searches to make sure you are narrowing your focus
toward the right niche and the right types of customers. This should improve
the return on your investment.

For example, if your niche were selling t-shirts with sci-fi themes, you can make
sure your ads are on sites that get traffic from people likely to be interested.
The amount of configuration you do, and the ability to choose the right
keywords, gives you control over how and where your ad is received.

Getting Started is Simple

Getting started with PPC ads is actually very easy. In the next chapter, we’ll go
over Google AdWords and what you need to do to get started with the system.

It is Affordable
Most companies feel that advertising is simply going to be out of the budget,
but it doesn’t have to be. PPC advertising is cost effective and it is easy to
change the parameters of the campaign to ensure you aren’t overspending on
ads that aren’t getting the job done.

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Watch Your Results

When you utilize Google AdWords, you can track your progress and the
success of your campaigns. This makes tweaking the campaign faster, easier,
and cheaper than ever before.

Works Differently from SEO

SEO on your site and in social media is still important and it always will be.
However, it takes time to generate real results from organic SEO. You don’t
have that trouble with PPC ads. The results are immediate. This can be a
double-edged sword though. Don’t try to get your campaign going before your
business can handle the results it will send your way.

Terms You Need to Know

When you first get into paid search advertising, you are likely to come across
some terms you might not know or understand. The following are some of the
most important terms:

CPC – Cost Per Click – This is the amount of money you pay every time
someone clicks on your ad. It varies based on keywords and the amount
you are willing to pay.

CPI – Cost Per Impression – The amount of money you are paid each
time the ad appears, or each time there is an impression of the ad on
the Web.

Bid – The bid is the amount of money you agree to pay to those who run
your advertisements whenever someone clicks on the ad or meets other
requirements.

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 Chapter 2:
Introduction to Google AdWords

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When you need to look up something on the Internet, there’s a good chance
you go right to Google to do it. You aren’t alone. It’s the most popular search
engine on the planet. When you are developing your marketing campaign, it
makes sense to put most of your focus into Google and learn how to make it
work for your advertising. PPC with Google AdWords is a great way to do that.

What is Google AdWords?

AdWords is a part of Google’s massive infrastructure that lets your ads appear
on its SERPs and on other websites relevant to your product or service all over
the Internet. This means you can have your ads on sites and search results that
are perfect for your niche. You’ve probably seen ads on Google’s search results
pages when you’ve done your own searches. You have plenty of control over
how and where your ads will appear too.

Many companies today are using AdWords to great effect, and you can do the
same, as well. You just need to make sure you have an AdWords account, so
that you can get a campaign up and running quickly and easily. In the next
chapter, we’ll go over the basics of what you need to do to set up your
campaign.

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Chapter 3: Getting Started with
Google AdWords

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First, you have to set up an account. Check out the AdWords site and sign up.
You’ll need to provide an email address and a password, the currency you will
be using, and your time zone. Since the results of PPC campaigns can be seen
quickly, make sure you have everything in place on your site and you are ready
to handle new customers and clients.

You can start with a high-level plan or overview, and then come up with
different Ad Groups and niche campaigns based around different keywords.
This gives you a chance to experiment and see which option will work the best
for your business, so you can retool other areas of your campaign later for
greater focus and better effect.

Your Campaign Settings

When you set up your campaign, you will have a number of different options
and settings available to you. Everyone will have his or her own preferences
and needs, so look at various options and see which ones are best for your
business.

You want to make sure you pay attention to all the different settings. Here is a
list of the things you need to consider. Each of the following items is an
important part of setting up the campaign.

Type
Networks
Devices
Locations
Languages
Bidding and Budget
Delivery Method
Advanced Settings
Scheduling
Ad Delivery
Keyword Matching Options
IP Exclusions
Experiment Beta
Tracking URL for Dynamic Links

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Payment Options for AdWords
When you set up your AdWords campaign, you also need to choose how you
will be paying for the advertisements. You can choose automatic or manual
payments. Automatic payments are payments made after your ads show, while
manual payments are made before your ads show. For example, you can pay
for a certain number of clicks in advance. You could also have a daily budget
and then pay for each of those clicks within that amount. After you reach your
budget’s threshold, your ad will stop showing until you pay again.

The easiest method of paying for your ads is with a credit card, and that is
what most businesses choose. However, in some countries, such as the United
States, you can use your PayPal account to pay for the advertisements.

You can start with a very small budget for your AdWords campaign if you wish,
and then you can add more funds and broaden the scope based on the
progress of your campaign.

Generating Conversion Tracking Codes

Conversion tracking codes are one of the best ways to know which of your
keywords is getting the most results. It is a free tool that’s a part of AdWords
and it shows you the behavior of your customers after they’ve already clicked
on your ad. You can see which ones are the most effective and therefore, the
best for your business. Here is how to get your basic conversion code. There
are quite a few different options, so you can customize it as you become more
familiar with the tool.

You will want to put the code that you generate onto your website. Just sign
into your AdWords account, click on your Tools and Analysis tab and choose
Conversions.

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Click on +Conversion and in the field that opens, and enter the type of
conversion you want to track. In the source field, enter the name of the page
where your customers will make that conversion, whatever it might be. Click
on Save and Continue.

In the Conversion field that comes next, choose the category that matches the
conversion you are tracking.

Click Save and Continue again and then choose whether you want to email the
code to the person who manages your website, or if you want the code for
yourself.

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This will generate the code and you can put it on your website and then track
the results.

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Chapter 4: How Small Businesses Can
Enrich Their Campaigns

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As you become more familiar with the features and tools offered with Google
AdWords, you will find new and better ways to make it work for your specific
business. By learning more about what works and what doesn’t, you can
garner information about your business and how you can make your ad
campaigns more effective.

Better Focus
You can figure out which niche areas are working for you and focus your
service area, and even the content on your site to them. This can help you
improve your overall sales and success.

Research Your Keywords

There are a few things to consider with your keywords, and using AdWords
makes it easier than ever to choose the best keywords. It’s a good idea to start
with a small keyword list and refine it with the AdWords Keyword Planner tool.
You can use other tools such as Word Tracker, Google Traffic Estimator, and
Google Insights to help you as well. Try to think like a customer when you are
coming up with your keywords.

While choosing your keywords, be aware that you have options for choosing
different types of keyword matches - Broad Match, Phrase Match, and Exact
Match. You may need to experiment to see which ones work best for your
small business. Using Exact Match can help you focus on your niche, but the
number of visitors might be smaller than if you used Broad Match.

Create Great Ad Copy

After you have finalized your keywords, you can start writing your ad copy. The
key is to make an enticing ad in the shortest space possible. You want people
who see the ad to feel compelled to click your link so that they head to your
site or special landing pages and become customers. It all starts with the
quality of the ads. You need to know your brand and your customers if you
expect to write great ads.

You will have 130 characters for your ads, including the headline, description,
and the display URL. Try to keep the headline at 25 characters. The first and

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second description lines should each be 35 characters, and the display URL can
be 35 characters.

Optimize Your Landing Pages and Destination URL

Getting the ad copy correct is important, but the landing page is just as
important. This is the first thing your potential customers will see after they
click on your ad, so it has to be just as impressive as the ad. It needs to take
them from interested all the way through to ready to buy.

Optimizing Negative Keywords to Improve Conversion

You can use negative keywords for a number of different purposes in order to
improve your conversion rate. For example, you can use them for filtering out
irrelevant searches and you can use them to filter out certain products,
services, or names you do not want included. This can provide better focus and
ensure that only your specific niche audience reaches your site.

Determine Your Budget

It is okay to start out with a small budget in the beginning. If you have a small
business, and you want to see the power of AdWords before you commit, you
can spend just $500 a month. Figure out the various tools, find your keywords,
and see how it works for you. Determine how much you have to spend on
advertising in a given month, and place a portion of your budget into AdWords.
Depending on the size of your company, the amount will vary, naturally.

You can get free advertising credit worth $100 by spending $25 out of your
own pocket when you sign up for an AdWords account. For more information,
visit http://www.google.com/adwords/coupons/appeng.html.

Bidding Strategy
You may want to try different things with your bidding strategy. You may find
that it is more advantageous to bid high with certain keywords so that you
have your ads showing up on sites that have high amounts of targeted traffic.
Others may find they get much more benefit from bidding a bit lower and
making their ads appear on a larger number of sites. Again, determining what

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works is different for all companies, so you may need to adjust your strategy
several times before you find what works.

Figuring Your CPC

How much money do you have to spend on your ads? How much can you
spend on each click? You can figure out your CPC with a basic formula: the CPC
equals the CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) divided by the click through rate.

Geo Targeting
One of the best ways to ensure your small business gets all the local attention
it deserves is through geo targeting. You can target your keywords and ads to
revolve around certain locales, and they will then show up on relevant sites.
For example, if you have a restaurant in Los Angeles, geo targeting can ensure
people looking for restaurants of your type in LA are more likely to see your ad.
This is much better than advertising your LA eatery to people in Atlanta!

Keep Track of Your Quality Score

Your quality score is basically your click through rate (CTR), and it is important
to keep track of how many clicks you get so that you can see how your overall
campaign is doing, and determine what you need to change to make it more
effective. You can try to use different ad types, ad positions, bids, and more to
tweak things and try to get a better CTR.

Make Use of Ad Extensions

It is possible to make your ad even better and more effective when you use ad
extensions. You have a number of different types of extensions you can include
such as location extensions, call extensions, links, seller ratings, app
extensions, social extensions, and review extensions.

The Power of AdWords

AdWords is a powerful tool, and Google is always striving to make it better and
more effective for small businesses such as yours. They have options to be on
the Display Network for millions of sites on the Web. You can create product

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listing ads, and carry out video marketing, remarketing, and more with Google.
It is vital to keep up to date on all of their latest changes and upgrades so that
you can stay on top of everything that your business needs for the most
effective marketing campaigns.

Conclusion

The information in this short e-book covers the basics of PPC and getting
started with a Google AdWords campaign. The more familiar you become with
AdWords, the better. While it is possible to take care of your AdWords
campaign in-house, you may feel more comfortable hiring a professional to
manage the campaign for you. If that’s the case, make sure the team you
choose has plenty of experience working with AdWords and creating successful
campaigns before you hire them!

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